High-rolling Aztecs run over Rebels

UNLV's Oscar Bellfield, right, dives for a loose ball against San Diego State's Brian Carlwell in the second half during an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011, in Las Vegas. San Diego State won 63-57. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

/ AP

UNLV's Oscar Bellfield, right, dives for a loose ball against San Diego State's Brian Carlwell in the second half during an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011, in Las Vegas. San Diego State won 63-57. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

UNLV's Oscar Bellfield, right, dives for a loose ball against San Diego State's Brian Carlwell in the second half during an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011, in Las Vegas. San Diego State won 63-57. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) (/ AP)

Every day at the end of practice for the first few months of the season, a manager would put 10 or 15 minutes on the clock and the Aztecs players would embark on the mundane task of shooting free throws. They would shoot in groups of three based on past performance, with the best shooter moving into the next highest group the following day and the worst shooter facing the ignominy of dropping down a group along with the obligatory ribbing.

It is a promotion/relegation system suggested by Aztecs assistant coach Mark Fisher and modeled after soccer leagues around the world – soccer being his sport of choice as a youth.

“It’s hard to get game-like free throws in practice, with game-like pressure,” Aztecs guard James Rahon said, “but competing like that each day helped a lot.”

Here’s how much: The gang that supposedly couldn’t shoot free throws straight, that ranked 327th in the nation last season, went 20-of-22 with 18,557 towel-waving, Rebel-yelling fans rattling their eardrums. In the final 95 seconds, four different players combined to calmly sink 8-of-8.

Good thing, too. Nothing else was going their way.

How many teams win close games in hostile environments while making only one field goal – yes, one – in the final 9½ minutes … with their two starting post players in major foul trouble … with a starting guard and top backup forward unavailable due to injury … with their backup center hobbling around with a wrapped right knee?

Oh, and senior point guard D.J. Gay stepped on a referee’s foot late in the first half and rolled his ankle. He never came out. He wouldn’t sit down in the locker room, instead pacing around the small room while Coach Steve Fisher gave his halftime talk, for fear it would tighten up.

(And still had 20 points, three assists and no turnovers in 40 minutes.)

“We gutted it out,” Fisher said. “We’ve got a good team that finds ways to win. It’s not always pretty and it may not always be conventional, but it is the way we play the game … We were knocked back on our heels, but we found a way to right the ship.”

And keep sailing it did. The No. 6 Aztecs are now 25-1 overall and 10-1 in the Mountain West Conference, keeping pace with No. 7 BYU (10-1) as their Feb. 26 showdown at Viejas Arena grows tantalizingly closer. It also was their fourth straight win against UNLV (18-7, 6-5) and 34th straight against an unranked opponent.

Another preposterous statistic: SDSU had no 25-win seasons for the first 87 years of men’s basketball on Montezuma Mesa. Now it has three straight.

Getting No. 25 this season seemed like it would be relatively easy for the first 30 minutes. Rahon’s layup with 9:50 left gave the Aztecs a 49-39 lead, and then he tried a three-pointer from the right corner that would have pushed the margin to 13.

That’s when things got dicey.

Rahon’s shot was a foot short, and Malcolm Thomas was whistled for an over-the-back foul on the rebound, his fourth. Billy White had picked up his fourth a few minutes earlier, and Fisher suddenly had a decision to make.

Tim Shelton was out with a bad bone bruise in his right foot. So was guard Chase Tapley with an ankle sprain. Backup center Brian Carlwell was in the locker room getting his tweaked right knee wrapped.

Fisher’s decision: “I said, ‘I’m not going to sit here and watch the lead evaporate. I’m going to shake the dice and take my chance.’”

Thomas and White would stay in.

White finally fouled out with 3:19 left when he pushed off with his forearm on a baseline drive and the Aztecs ahead 54-53. Tre’Von Willis made a running bank shot on the ensuing possession to give UNLV its first lead since 2-0.

Depleted, disjointed, discombobulated, the Aztecs never disintegrated. The Rebels did that for them.

Over the final 2½ minutes, the team that ranks eighth out of nine MWC teams in three-point shooting percentage (.282) and went 1-of-18 against the Aztecs last month jacked up six treys. Miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss. UNLV coach Lon Kruger watched it with hands on hips and three timeouts in his pocket.

The Aztecs were having their own issues scoring. Rahon’s three-pointer with 4:48 left was their only hoop in the final 9½ minutes. The last Aztec other than Rahon to score a basket was Gay with 10:53 to go. They had a season-low seven assists and shot 30.4 percent (7-of-23) in the second half.

“UNLV was playing great defense,” said Leonard, who had his fifth double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) in as many career games against UNLV. “They got us out of plays a couple times down the stretch. We just found a way to get to the free-throw line instead, and everybody knew we needed to make them to win.”

In the final 1:35, Carlwell, Gay, Leonard and Rahon went to the line. Make, make, make, make, make, make, make, make.

So much for all that talk about free throws being this team’s Achilles heel.

“It can’t be a one-hit wonder,” Gay said. “We have to continue to hit free throws. There are still going to be close games. But this does show that we have the capability of knocking down free throws when we have to.

“This definitely shows the character of this team.”

Notes

Next up is New Mexico at Viejas Arena, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. … San Diego Padres outfielder Ryan Ludwick, who grew up in Las Vegas and had a .363 career batting average at UNLV, had his No. 18 jersey retired before the game ... With no late flights to San Diego, the Aztecs bussed home immediately after the game. Said assistant head coach Brian Dutcher in the glow of the victory: “It will be much shorter ride now.” … White, a Las Vegas native, to the Aztecs huddle during a timeout after he fouled out: “You have to get this win for me. You have to fight, fight. We only have four minutes left. You just need to fight for me.” … Gay extended his turnover-free streak to an incomprehensible 158 minutes … The Aztecs were outscored 13-4 off turnovers, 28-14 in the paint and 19-4 by the benches ... In two games this season against SDSU, UNLV is a combined 2-of-33 behind the three-point line.